2008-05-24
I have to say I didn't really hear anything by this Belgian black metal band before, though this is their third album since their inception in 1998, quite a shame actually – since this is a unique and demanding album by a band that definitely knows what it's doing.
Musically these guys create basic, stripped-down black metal that is very well played, and well produced – none of that "we recorded this in our granddad's basement" crap here. The music is all about the strong and atmospheric riffs.
Vocally this is from the more death-oriented black metal school of thought, the vocals are mid-range and aggressive rather than the old-school high-pitched screams, and it sits in well with the raw feel of the music.
It isn't catchy or easy for the ear, just listen Cult Driven, the riffs swirled and unfold into a track which is demanding and quite complex, it's also overlaid with vocal film samples that throw this into a somewhat avant-garde school of thought.
The track opens and closes in what sounds like a sample from a Hammer horror film soundtrack, but while Cult Driven still maintained the basic rhythm of a black metal song – Chaos Injector is even more "out-there", very none-black metal drum sections, riffs that are quite progressive, this is one strange, and experimental black metal experience.
The overall feeling of discomfort this one causes is very strong, the sixth cut contains some strange spoken female passages in what is almost certainly a Celtic frost tribute of sorts. It also makes things somewhat clearer about the band's unique grasp of their metal, only a band as strange and bold as Celtic Frost would dare create some of the strange landscapes these guys paint here.
So, this is definitely black, definitely dark and quite depressing, but only the more progressive thinking black metallers will grasp the depth and originally here, this album is goes much deeper than your usual "I love Satan" teenage black metal romp.
Alon Miasnikov
